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A Firsthand Look At the Gun That Shot J. R.

By Emily Brennan June 16, 2012 10:00 amJune 16, 2012 10:00 am

Erik Heinla/TNT

In advance of TNT’s reboot of the television series “Dallas,” Southfork Ranch, a private home turned conference and event center used as the exterior for the Ewings’ mansion, has been welcoming more visitors than ever.

Since opening to the public in 1992, the 340-acre ranch in Parker, Tex., has attracted 400,000 visitors a year. Daily tours at Southfork (southfork.com; $10.75) exhibit rooms modeled after sets like Jock’s living room and Lucy’s “Yellow Rose of Texas” suite, and iconic props like the gun that shot J. R. and Lucy’s frills-and-lace wedding dress are on display in the museum. Visitors can also walk the grounds, which are featured prominently in the wedding scene that opens the pilot of the new series. Sally Peavy, who has been giving tours of the ranch for 15 years, said that though there has been a recent uptick in visits, the ranch has always been popular with visitors to Dallas.

“They want to see the J.F.K. museum and Southfork,” she said, “It’s like the second White House of the United States, if you will.”